Preparation and Performance Investigation of Optimized Cement-Based Sealing Materials Based on the Response Surface Methodology

[Image: see text] A new cement-based sealing material, which used Portland cement (PC) as a raw material and supplemented several gel components, such as accelerant, alkali activator, suspension agent, expansion agent, reinforcing agent, was prepared in this work. The effects of these components on the fluidity, setting time, and expansion rate of these sealing materials were investigated by an orthogonal test. The results show that the water–cement ratio and the reinforcing agent content, the accelerant content and the water–cement ratio, and the expansion agent content and the accelerant content are the most important influencing factors on fluidity, setting time, and expansion rate, respectively. In addition, the regression models and response surfaces of the factors were established using a multiple linear regression method. By this means, the influences of the two main factors on each performance of this sealing material were accurately and intuitively reflected for obtaining the optimal value in the optimization area. The results indicate that the sealing materials possess the best performances when the water–cement ratio is 1.1, the accelerant content is 50%, the expansion agent content is 0.1%, and the reinforcing agent content is 3%, which is corresponding to a fluidity of 360–380 mm, an initial (final) setting time of 60 (80)–80 (100) min, and an expansion rate of 2–12%. Furthermore, the microstructures of the optimized sealing material also reveal that the main hydration products of PC are transformed from layered Ca(OH)(2) crystals into fine needle-like AFt crystals and C–S–H gels by the promotion effect of the optimizing ratio, thus leading to a more compact structure of optimized cement-based sealing materials.